Allocation of Chapter 11 Asbestos Trust Fund to Medical Research for Detection,
Prevention, Treatment and Cure

Gentlemen:

In the next few years, the bankruptcy courts will approve the reorganization
plans for several major asbestos debtors. The projected combined value
for only 11 of the pending 30 asbestos debtors' trusts will hover
around $19 billion (see attached chart). The former asbestos companies
will in essence walk away cleansed of their civil tort liabilities. But
their toxic legacy will continue to fester in the lungs of millions of
Americans and in the walls and ceilings of millions of schools, buildings,
and homes.

The asbestos debtors must be held accountable not only for compensating
their victims but also for ameliorating the latter's suffering and
preventing future victims.

To date, there has never been a concerted effort to fund a serious campaign
to prevent, detect, treat or cure asbestos cancer. Mesothelioma is truly
an orphan disease. From 2000 to 2003, the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) invested about $2 million per year in applied and basic research
on mesothelioma. In the same period, the NIH spent about $67 million per
year on cervical cancer research, a cancer responsible for 4,100 deaths
per year. In the same period, the NIH poured in over $244 million per
year on AIDS research and because of that activism a disease once considered
invariably fatal in 1985 is now eminently treatable. Although 32% of the
roughly 3,000 (or more) Americans diagnosed with mesothelioma were exposed
to asbestos while serving in the U.S. Navy or working in Navy shipyards,
neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs
have a medical research and treatment program for victims of this "war-related" disease.

Mesothelioma was first discussed in the medical literature in the 1940's
and its incidence will peak in the next 10 years or so. Since the 1960's,
asbestos litigation has consumed billions of dollars, over half of which
have been absorbed by transaction costs. Despite the money spent and the
lives lost, next to nothing has been invested in preventing or curing
asbestos cancer. Consequently, the prognosis for mesothelioma patients
today remains unacceptably grim. The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
is, however, optimistic that we can reverse the institutional apathy and
medical nihilism, with your help.

We recently wrote a letter to Mr. Elihu Inselbuch requesting an opportunity
to appear before the various creditors' committees to advance our
case that a fraction of the asbestos debtors? settlement funds should
be allocated to medical research (see letter of August 27, 2004 attached).
Mr. Inselbuch advised that in order to discuss the proposal it would need
to be raised by one of his "clients" (see letter of August 31,
2004 attached). Each of you belongs to law firms which have lawyers who
serve on one or more of the ongoing Chapter 11 reorganizations. Each of
you has the power to champion this long overdue remedy.

MARF would like the opportunity to visit with each of you about the merits
of our proposal. MARF is conducting a three-day medical symposium October
14-16, 2004 in Las Vegas . We would like to arrange a meeting during the
symposium at which MARF's doctors and scientists can outline for you
our plan for accelerating breakthroughs in the detection, prevention,
treatment and cure of mesothelioma. If you cannot attend, we can arrange
a conference call.

Please advise whether you (or a partner) can be personally or telephonically
available. On Friday night (October 15), Senator Harry Reid will deliver
the keynote address. We can try to arrange a meeting prior to Senator
Reid's speech from 4 to 5 P.M. Chris Hahn and I would like to discuss
this with you. I can be reached at (949) 496-5918. Chris Hahn can be reached
at (805) 560-8942.

We look forward to your support and leadership. We acknowledge that we
are asking you to venture into uncharted waters. But who better to advocate
a benevolent change to the status quo than the very lawyers who know first-hand
that a cancer claimant's first priority is
more life? You have the power to help eradicate this terrible disease.

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